sestina

nounEtymology: Italian, from sesto sixthDate: circa 1586
a lyrical fixed form consisting of six 6-line usually unrhymed stanzas in which the end words of the first stanza recur as end words of the following five stanzas in a successively rotating order and as the middle and end words of the three verses of the concluding tercet

sestina — 1838, from It., poem of six lined stanzas, from sesto sixth, from L. sextus (see SIX (Cf. six)). Invented by 12c. Prov. troubadour Arnaut Daniel. The line endings of the first stanza are repeated in different order in the rest, and in an envoi … Etymology dictionary

sestina — [ses tē′nə] n. pl. sestinas or sestine [ses tē′nā] [It &LT; sesto, sixth: see SESTET] an elaborate verse form of six six line stanzas and a tercet: the end words of the first stanza are repeated in varying combinations in the other five stanzas… … English World dictionary

Sestina — A sestina (also, sextina, sestine, or sextain) is a highly structured poem consisting of six six line stanzas followed by a tercet (called its envoy or tornada ), for a total of thirty nine lines. The same set of six words ends the lines of each… … Wikipedia

sestina — /se stee neuh/, n., pl. sestinas, sestine / nay/. Pros. a poem of six six line stanzas and a three line envoy, originally without rhyme, in which each stanza repeats the end words of the lines of the first stanza, but in different order, the… … Universalium